Konami & Evil Empire On the Origins of Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania

Castlevania, the beloved video game franchise by Konami, is enjoying renewed popularity with the launch of the Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC. Although it is certainly not canon, the DLC provides a fresh take on the classic platformer featuring Richter Belmont and Alucard as the main characters.

In a new interview with IGN, Konami Return to Castlevania supervisor Tsutomu Taniguchi and COO of Evil Empire Benjamin Laulan discussed the origins of the DLC as well as spoke about Castlevania's impact on Dead Cells.

Laulan shared that the partnership between Konami and Evil Empire for the Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC originated from a meeting at the 2019 BitSummit festival in Kyoto. According to him, Konami readily accepted the pitch for the crossover.

He explained that prior to the collaboration, Evil Empire had already "respectfully stolen" many elements from the Castlevania series for Dead Cells, including "the whip, the key art with the castle, the food hidden in walls", and "the 'rogue-vania' punchline". This is why, according to Laulan, it felt logical to continue in that vein, resulting in a full DLC proposal that included Konami agreeing to everything from Richter Mode to the Konami Code.

Taniguchi, in turn, said that Konami feels "proud" that Castlevania has had such a significant influence on Dead Cells.

"Seriously, knowing that Dead Cells, which is among the greatest indie games of the past ten years, was inspired by Castlevania is a huge source of pride for us," he said.

"When Evil Empire and Motion Twin came back with their full-DLC proposition instead of just this short featuring we weren’t really surprised and we were hoping for that to be honest. And we just thought we had to let them go full circle, because we knew they would use every ounce of their talent to honor the franchise. And also, I personally admit I just really wanted to see what a fight against Dracula in Dead Cells would look like!"

Additionally, Taniguchi shared that Konami feels the "excitement and enthusiasm of the fans online," which, according to him, is "really motivating" for the company. While he didn't disclose any plans for the future of the Castlevania franchise, Taniguchi recognized that fans are eager for more content, and the collaboration with Dead Cells presented an irresistible opportunity.

You can learn more by reading the full interview here. Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform, our Reddit page, and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.